DCHS wrestlers start strong at Sidney Invite

In an impressive opening weekend, the Dawson County High School boys varsity wrestling team placed 12th in the Sidney Eagle Invitational.

The boys entered only six grapplers in the varsity meet yet finished in the middle of 25 top-notch teams from various classes across Montana, North Dakota, Idaho and Washington. From Idaho, Post Falls won the tournament with 186 points and Columbia High came in second with 170. Class Bozeman third with 160. DCHS scored 81.

During a recent interview, DCHS head coach Tim Zody said his team was unable to fill all 13 weight classes and explained how competing with fewer wrestlers could prevent them from scoring points in tournaments. Nonetheless, he spoke enthusiastically about his pride for the team’s performance in Sidney.

Sophomore Nelson Crisafulli (182 pounds) was the top scorer for the Red Devils during the tournament Friday and Saturday when he earned 24 points defeating opponents from Minot, N.D.; Hardin and Bozeman. Crisafulli lost a 2-4 decision to Michael Cox of Columbia High (Idaho) to place second.

“Nelson wrestled a solid match against Columbia High,” Zody said. “He was right in it the whole way. He’s doing really well using his legs to control guys and score points.”

Senior Ben Stortz (145) racked up 18 points defeating opponents from Killdeer, North Dakota, and Billings Senior. He lost a 0-3 decision to Chance McLane of Bozeman, before defeating Austin Ketchem of Billings Skyview and Jace Winter of Sidney to place third.

“Ben wrestled a pretty solid tournament,” Zody said, especially since he only lost to McLane, who placed third at 120 the Montana state tournament last season.

Senior Tyler Clapp (152) also scored 18 points defeating opponents from Custer County, Bozeman, Columbia High and Baker, North Dakota. He lost in a 7-8 decision to Coleton Kazmierczak of Post Falls and in a 3-6 decision to Brock Bushfield of Billings Skyview to place fifth.

“Tyler’s Columbia High match was close and the kid from Skyview was a two-time state champion,” Zody said. “He had some tough kids in his weight class.”

Zody added: “I’m thinking Tyler will go to 160 pounds this week. That’s where he wrestled in the state tournament the past two seasons.”

Junior Keegan Mires (heavyweight) scored 14 points defeating opponents from Killdeer, Lake Stevens, Idaho, and Sidney. He lost in a 0-1 decision to Merlin Whitedirt of Colstrip and fell to Levi Malcolm of Billings West to place fourth.

“Keegan wrestled a tough kid from Colstrip and then was in a close match with Billings West,” Zody said. “It was closer than it shows and he was right in there until he got pinned.”

“Cade didn’t wrestle last year because he was injured,” Zody said. “He dinged up his shoulder during the tournament. He may not wrestle this upcoming weekend. He’ll get some rest and come back soon.”

Overall, Zody believed his team did well in their opening weekend.

“But we’re not in shape yet,” he added. “A lot of things need to improve. We need to keep ourselves out of bad situations and capitalize on people’s mistakes. There’s plenty of room for improvement. I always tell the kids, ‘It’s not how we start, but how we finish that counts.’”

“We have good wrestlers but we don’t have many on the team,” Zody said. “We’re going to struggle this year as far as duals. We’d have to shut everyone out with a pin in order to win without all the weight classes filled.”

While it’s nice to win duals, Zody noted it’s the individual performances that will help them with their state standings.

“At least duals don’t count against us for the state levels,” he said.

This week, the hometown team hosts Miles City on Tuesday before competing in another meet on Friday and Saturday in Glasgow.